Steve Worthington elected U.P. mayor

The City of University Place starts the new year with a new mayor. At the first meeting of the City Council in 2022 on January 4, the council voted for Steve Worthington to be elected UP Mayor this year and 2023.

The council took further action, electing council member Javier Figueroa as mayor Pro Tem and new member Ed Wood as head of the city’s finance committee. Pierce County Superior Court Judge Grant Blinn took the oath of office on behalf of Worthington, Figueroa, Wood and Denise McCluskey, all of whom were elected for four years by voters last November.

After taking office as Mayor on the podium, Worthington first thanked outgoing Mayor Caroline Belleci, who led the city through an extremely challenging time during the COVID pandemic.

“It has been 22 months since this council sat at the same table in one session, but during that time Mayor Belleci kept us together and done the work for the city. We all appreciate your work and thank you very much for you are our mayor, ”he said.

Worthington was Mayor Pro Tem under Belleci from January 2020 to December 2021. Worthington not only learned and experienced many aspects of a mayor’s work with Belleci; he will benefit from the knowledge of five of the current councilors who previously served as mayors of University Place. This includes Councilor Stan Flemming, UP’s first mayor.

“There is depth in the council and a joy to work with with so many people who have led the way for our community and for the region,” Worthington told Tacoma Weekly. “It is a real privilege to be mayor of an organization that has the strength of the staff and the strength of the council that University Place has today. It’s a great team and I’m proud to be part of it. ”

With a long and respected legacy in the civil service, Worthington brings unique vision and skills to his new role as Mayor. It all started in 1984 when he held a staff position providing economic development work for the Spokane Economic Development Council, working with small towns in Spokane County and the surrounding area. He then worked for the City of Cheney as the Community Development Director for approximately 12 years before moving to Fife where he served as the Economic Development Director and then the City Manager. He left this position of city manager in 2011 and ran successfully for election to UP city council in 2014. He has been on the council for eight years and is now beginning his third term for another four years.

“It is my intention to add this experience to the knowledge and background of the council and to continue learning from our peers about Pierce County local government and our ways of doing things that matter to the city,” he said.

Worthington outlined several priorities on the council’s agenda for 2022, with the ongoing pandemic at the forefront.

“This is really a challenge at all levels of government. We are clearly not done with that and how we can keep the community as a whole, secure and financially solvent. ”

The city’s economic development is another major issue that builds on the solid financial policies and practices of UP staff and the city government over the past few years, which has significantly improved the city’s credit rating from Moody’s. This protects the interests of the city and its citizens alike and provides a strong financial position for University Place projects such as affordable and market-driven housing. UP recently launched a Housing Action Toolkit for the next 20 years of growth and Strategies to meet the requirements of the State Growth Management Act.

UP will also make major investments to grow its economy using funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to invest in infrastructure to help the city run business and help its residents. Contribution to Pierce County’s sewage collection and treatment system would expand the sewage system into different areas of University Place, further protecting the environment and improving the health of the area.

As Worthington explained, “A large percentage of our homes have sewage treatment plants, and while this was the appropriate technique a few years ago, there are better approaches today by collecting and cleaning sewers and we want to do all we can to help.” to help our citizens. ” Switch to the system where it makes sense. ”

These projects are just a few of the tasks that the UP city government has ahead of it at the beginning of 2022. Worthington described this as an exciting opportunity for him to work with his fellow citizens and councilors.

“We really work together to get things done,” he said. “We can’t do much alone, but together we can move as well as mountains. We are always looking for new ways to strengthen our commitment to our community. ”